The British Fantasy Society‘s review of Parlour Tricks popped up online earlier this week, and if you want to find out what the BFS’ Sandra Scholes had to say about my first collection, you can visit the original listing page here , or alternatively you can find the whole review uploaded to the relevant tab on this site. I’ve also included a few choice cuts below, for those wishing to avoid any hint of spoilers:-

“Though he is no stranger to writing fiction, this is Carl Barker’s first collection of short stories, 14 in all with the central theme of illusion. And by that he means the art of illusion used by famous conjurers when they perform their magic tricks in front of a rapt audience. In the Afterword, Barker mentions what led him to create these tales with a horror theme to them and explains each on in The Inner Circle where the stories are based on the performances given by the conjurer…”

“What is most noticeable is how well-written the stories are. He doesn’t need a slick introduction from an already well established author to tell others how good he is at the written word. When you read From Chatterton Hill you already tell he can write with a style that both engages and gives you the thought that you will want to continue reading the next story and so on.”

“I like that the stories all have themes and cater to everyone’s taste in horror stories, from the bizarre to the funny, the gory to the strange, Carl Barker will have plenty more to write and engage with.”